


The Pride of Twoson

by Schnozzbun



Category: Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu | EarthBound
Genre: Bad Parents, Canon Divergent, Child isn't forced to apologise to parents, Dysfunctional Family, Everdred is a supportive figure, Friendship Finds a Way, Gen, Humour, Hurt/Comfort, Referenced Child Abuse, Referenced Emotional Abuse, This gets a little rough folks but Ness and Paula have each other don't worry, Verbal manipulation, fatshaming, platonic, platonic nesspaula
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:54:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21680089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schnozzbun/pseuds/Schnozzbun
Summary: Post Second Sanctuary - the newly met Ness and Paula have a chance to get to know each other better. However, upon entering Twoson, Ness realises that the biggest challenges are still to come as Paula has unfinished business with her family.(Originally titled No Expectations. Renamed cause I came up with a better title.)
Relationships: Ness & Everdred, Ness & Paula Polestar, Ness/Paula Polestar, Paula Polestar & Everdred
Comments: 22
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

“So, when did you first find out about ‘em?” Paula reached out her hand.

“You mean my powers?” Ness said, grabbing it.

Paula hefted Ness to his feet. Behind them, in the center of a brown bowl-shaped crater, a Li’l UFO jutted diagonally out of the scorched grass. Ribbons of smoke curled into the air as the cracked flying-saucer made a couple of sputtering beeps before powering down with a dirge-like hum. 

The kids were equally worse for wear. Traversing Peaceful Rest Valley had been ironically hectic with its strange aliens and combustible trees, but the two had gotten used to these encounters to the point where it felt routine. They could continue conversations between and sometimes even during battles. 

Ness _had_ only fully met Paula yesterday, so they had a lot of small talk to do. Favourite foods, favourite music, favourite sports teams: you know, important stuff.

“What else would I mean?” Paula said, retying her bow.

“Well, it was small at first.” Ness swung his backpack to his chest and dug around inside. “Croissant?” he offered.

“Yep.”

Ness split the bread in half. The two ate and walked, enjoying the sun at their backs and seeing how it made the river below glitter, its water encircling the sloping cliffs of Peaceful Rest.

Ness swallowed before he spoke. “I guess it was when I first realized I could talk to animals. I’ve always been able to hear their thoughts. Well, I guess I didn’t realize, I just sorta always could, but didn’t see how it was weird. It was a while before I learned not everyone could do it. I used to think the other kids were just being really rude or acting dumb. Turns out I was the dumb one.” He chuckled humourlessly.

“But,” he said in a brighter tone, “I’ve been able to do a lot more stuff since the meteor landed. It’s like my powers are more, insistent. I think.”

“Don’t you mean consistent?” Paula said.

“I mean, that too. But no, like— They kind of have a direction now, a purpose. I feel like if the meteor had never crashed, and I’d never met that Buzz Buzz I told you about, the best I could do would be knowing when King needed to pee and being able to open bathroom locks without touching them.”

“Who’s King?”

“Oh, he’s my dog.”

“That’s cool. I have a cat, but he doesn’t like me.”

He knew she had a cat now. Good. This was good, right? It had been a while since Ness had talked to someone his age, even before he’d taken on this whole world-saving thing. He had a tendency to ramble, and being treated like a social pariah at school meant he was out of practice. Paula was a good listener though. 

He took another bite, disappointed. “Darn, these aren’t as good cold.”

Paula offered her free hand. “Here, let me try.”

Confused, he handed her his half. Then it dawned on him. 

“Oh, _hell_ yes!” he said.

 _"Mmmm-hm,"_ Paula grinned as she focused on the two halves of the croissant in both her hands. The scent of cooked bread mingled around them, the edges of the croissant-halves curling from the heat. As steam began to waft from them both, she returned Ness’s half. “Here,” she said.

Ness took an eager bite, eyes beaming as he savoured the delightful buttery flavour that melted in his mouth. “That’s amazing, Paula! I can’t believe you don’t do this all the time,” he said with his mouth half full.

“I _do_ do it all the time, you goose. You just haven’t noticed,” she said, making no attempt to hide how pleased she was. And for good reason – it was amazing how well Paula handled her offensive PSI. And such a variety too! 

It wasn’t just Paula’s psychic abilities that impressed Ness, it was the way she held herself. She walked with a relaxed self-confidence. Like she didn’t have to work at all to prove her coolness, she just _was._ She bit a large shred of croissant, not caring at all for who was watching. Ness wished he could be like that. Just, not giving a damn. Then again, it wouldn’t be hard to be comfortable in Paula’s skin. She was tall, blonde - total opposite to Ness. 

“But yeah, what you’re saying makes sense,” Paula said. “I wasn’t able to do as much big PK stuff until you got me out of that damn cabin. Maybe some of that magic PSI-focusy-energy of yours rubbed off on me.” She waggled her fingers and elbowed his shoulder.

Ness giggled. “Yeah, maybe.”

“Could you do any other PSI stuff growing up? Or did people at school still treat you different?” Paula asked.

“I avoided it. It only made them bug me more. I would sometimes do it by accident if I was surprised or something. Like, make little sparks of light around me. But the others would single me out if they ever saw me doing weird stuff like that. Back when me and Pokey knew each other, he had ideas for all sorts of pranks I should do to get back at them. But, I promised my mom I’d never use my powers on other kids.”

Ness noticed something in Paula’s eyes. There had definitely been a look of distaste when he mentioned Pokey, she made no attempt to hide that. But there was something else. He’d caught a vague glimpse of surprise. Or maybe it was scepticism? Or maybe it had all been repulsion. Maybe now that he’d fully admitted how unpopular he was at school and what little he could do with PSI, he had pretty much undone any credibility he had for himself. Maybe Paula would come to her senses and realize she could just take the Sound Stone and probably do this whole Giygas thing without him.

Paula looked ahead of her, thoughtful. Ness instinctively turtled into his shoulders.

She said, “That sucks. I’m sorry to hear you got bugged like that. But, I think it’s kind of impressive.” Paula clocked Ness’s confusion. “What I mean is, those other kids probably didn’t expect much from you. But they were wrong, cause look where you are now!” She spoke like what she was saying was fact, like she was explaining gravity. “Listen, if my visions have shown me anything, we’re not even close to done yet. But hey! You’ve gone through a lot of stuff all by yourself. That makes you pretty cool in my books.”

Ness looked at her in awe, too stupefied to form a response.

“Also don’t call PSI weird,” she added. “It’s cool as hell.” 

Ness snorted. “Easy for you to say. You can make stuff warm and cold just by touching it – I bet you could charge a Walkman too!” Ness said, definitely not considering asking her to do so later since he’d run out of spare batteries. “What did people at your school think?”

A small crease formed on Paula’s brow as she stuffed her whole croissant piece into her mouth. She covered the bottom of her face as she chewed. She said, “Not much. I’m home-schooled.”

“Oh, so—right.” Ness had almost said _sorry._ Well that had been a dumb thing to ask. Maybe that was a sore spot for her, like, she was embarrassed or something. It was hard to imagine Paula being home-schooled though. He’d just assumed Paula was one of those popular athletic kids who could draw attention to her like moths to her flaming bright personality. He couldn’t shake the image. She was so thoughtful and inspiring and smart – she had to be someone with loads of friends.

It dawned on him.

Ness laughed.

Paula stared. Voice on guard, she said, “What’s so funny?”

“Sorry! Sorry, I just realized. Um.” He kept his hands clutched tight to his backpack straps to prevent them from flapping with excitement. In a small voice, he said, “Are we - are we friends right now?”

Paula’s face went slack, like her mind was rebooting, long enough for a shadow of a fear to tug at Ness’s chest, before at last she came alive with a sound that was a mix of a raspberry and a snort.

“Of course we are, nimrod!” She smacked the brim of Ness’s cap down. 

Ness laughed too, surprised and relieved. 

“After crawling through a cave and fighting a seven-foot-tall mole?” she said. “We’re, like, blood brothers or something.” She hooked Ness with the crook of her arm, close enough that he could see the twinkle in her eye. “They don’t do team building exercises like that in church camp, that I can tell you for free,” she laughed again.

Ness beamed. “Yeah, awesome.”

His journey up until this point had been stress after quandary after back-breaking burden. Rabid animals, corrupt adults, aliens – it was all, frankly, pretty damn terrifying. Especially doing everything by himself. Travelling alone meant buying food by yourself, meant pacing on the spot for ten minutes working up the courage to ask someone for directions, meant fully realising that just because you were a kid didn’t mean adults needed to be kind to you. 

It was a lot. 

He was embarrassed by the amount of times he’d cried himself to sleep in hotel rooms, just wanting to go back home to his dog and his sister and mom. But he knew he couldn’t. He could feel in his gut that he was in the center of something much bigger than himself. So, warily, he kept moving forward. No matter how much the weight of the Sound Stone in his backpack felt heavier with each step. 

But now he knew Paula. Someone who had seemingly mastered her PSI in less than an afternoon and could mow down enemies with the explosive point of a finger. You’d think that the whole ‘chosen one’ rigamarole would make him feel important and special, but what he really felt was unqualified. Right now though, knowing that he was friends with Paula made Ness feel like he was worth his weight in gold.

He had a friend. He couldn’t remember the last time he could say that with confidence. So he laughed too. He felt happy. He felt really, truly, happy.

So happy, he hadn’t noticed their youthful mirth had drawn a creeping mass of leaves and sulphur behind the two. A droning _CREEEEEAK_ of it rising to its full height made the kids jerk still as they felt its skulking form block out the sun. They turned, slowly, eyes meeting the Territorial Oak’s wide wooden grin.

 _“Cheese and crackers,"_ Paula muttered.

* * *

Scuffed, scratched, and only slightly bruised – Ness and Paula emerged from the caves into the outskirts of Twoson proper.

Car traffic, children playing, white stripes over black asphalt connecting grey strips of cracked concrete – the ordinary marks of suburbia were a close comfort for children who had been sleeping amongst sneering trees and blue cows.

All kinds of grown-ups stopped in their tracks to wave at Paula, showing genuine excitement in seeing her. Paula waved back at the adults, calling half of them by name, while Ness eyed them warily. Gardening yards, doing groceries, walking dogs – all was put on hold as people ogled the two of them.

Ness felt rather than heard the words _“she’s back… healer… her parents must be … miracle worker”_ penetrate the walls of his skull from all directions.

Ness clutched his backpack straps tightly. “You know,” he said, “when I first got to Twoson, almost everyone talked about you an awful lot. I guess you’re sorta famous huh?”

Paula took long strides and wore a wide smile as she waved with the jagged precision of an air marshal signalling a plane to land. From far away it would have looked vibrant, from up close it looked mechanical. “Yep, it’s not— _Hi, Mr Benson!”_ Paula's voice went up an octave. _"Yep, I’m back. In a hurry to see the family. See you on Sunday though!”_

She leant down conspiratorially to Ness as they walked past the older gentleman. “Yep, it’s not a huge town, sure, but it’s embarrassing sometimes, you know? People come up to me and I don’t know their names half the time.”

“I’d be kinda creeped out honestly,” he mumbled.

Paula raised herself back up. “Well, thank God for the words ‘sir’ and ‘ma’am,’” she said through a grit smile.

After walking through a few more streets, they reached the end of a particular block. There stood the long preschool building with the name POLESTAR painted in blocky red and teal letters.

A cat lay on the sidewalk, licking its paw. It had a black coat save for it’s entirely white head and belly.

“Hey Biscuit!” Paula said.

The cat looked at Paula. It arched its back and hissed like a bad omen before running to the preschool and climbing up the gutter to the roof.

Paula cupped her hands around her mouth. “Didn’t miss me too much, huh?” 

The cat hissed again. Ness heard it say: _You and your hot hands!!! Stay back!_

He turned to Paula. “'Hot hands?’”

Paula stared back blankly, then laughed. “Ha! Yeah, that’s one way to describe it. My motor skills as a kid weren’t exactly the most—” two small bursts of flame shot from her jazz-hands “—disciplined.” She grinned cheekily.

Ness laughed, walking towards the stone path leading to the preschool. He didn’t hear Paula’s footsteps.

He turned. Paula was staring at the building, a heavy look on her face, like she was weighing something up.

“Paula, are you okay?”

Paula took a beat like she hadn’t heard him. Her shoulders were hunched, fists curled at her sides. Finally, she shut her eyes, inhaled deeply through her nose, and opened them.

“Worst first,” she said, marching past Ness and reaching towards the door.

They entered the preschool - long carpeted room, colourful plastic chairs, cubbyholes, a blackboard, toy boxes. A safe and soft world that made you instantly nostalgic the instant you set foot inside. The pre-schoolers were huddled at the far corner around Mrs Polestar. She was a beautiful woman, chicly dishevelled with her hair in a ponytail and wearing a finger-paint stained apron. She sat on a stool above the enraptured students. Her mouth formed perfect vowels and consonants as she held aloft a bright picture book. Her finger carefully underlined each word as she read. _"The – big – blue – bear – was –_ Paula?”

The kids’ heads turned in hive mind unison.

“PAULA?” the kids gasped.

The gaggle of pre-schoolers stampeded towards her. A dozen snotty faces clamoured around Paula, completely unrestrained in their devotion. Paula was nearly pulled apart by the twenty-four little hands trying to tug her in opposite directions.

“—Paula, I drew nine horses on one page, look!”

“—Where did you go? Can I go with you next time, Paula?”

“—Paula, Mrs Polestar keeps giving us carrots in snack-time you hafta stop her.”

“Kids!” Mrs Polestar’s voice sliced through the pre-schoolers’ pleas. “Macaroni and cheese!” she called.

As if told the most exciting thing they’d heard in their entire lives, the kids responded: “Everybodyyyyyyyyy... FREEZE!” Each struck a funny pose, holding as still as possible. 

Smiling warmly, Mrs Polestar clapped her hands together. “Now that I have your attention, I can announce that it’s naptime!”

A cacophony of disappointed _awwwww’s._

“I’m sorry guys,” Paula said. “Me and my friend Ness had a _biiiiig_ couple of days out.” Paula spoke in an extremely earnest voice, not too far off from a kids tv show host Ness would watch as a toddler. Regardless, the kids were making small o’s with their mouths, hanging onto each word. “I got lost, but my new friend Ness found me and helped me back home. But now we’re both REALLY tired!” She stretched her arms and yawned theatrically. “Ness is tired too.” She jabbed him with her elbow.

“Um, yes!” He yawned and tapped his hand against his mouth.

Mrs Polestar nodded approvingly towards Paula. Without missing a beat, she said: “See? Big kids need to take naps too. And you all want to be big like Paula and Ness, right?”

Most of the kids nodded, though a few still pouted, unconvinced.

“And you’ll get to hear the story of how I fought a giant mole!” Paula said.

“REALLY?”

“But only after naptime!” Mrs Polestar said. “Let’s go!”

All the pre-schoolers followed Mrs Polestar to a store closet except one. She stayed, tugging firmly at Paula’s skirt.

“Paula! Up! Up!” she raised her hands skywards.

Paula’s eyes widened. “Maybe later, Natalie,” she whispered quickly. “Not in front of Mo—Mrs Polestar, remember?” 

Natalie sulked before she walked towards the rest of the kids. Ness looked at Paula with an inquisitive head tilt. 

_Later,_ Paula mouthed. 

The room quickly turned into a flurry of movement. Like a conductor leading a symphony, or a fairy godmother waving commands – the kids were under Mrs Polestar’s spell, diligently helping pull out their mats and blankets at her lead. Ness sat next to Paula, watching her help the kids spread the blankets out. Ness realized he was smiling. There was something nearly utopic about how Mrs Polestar was able to conjure such a tour-de-force of positivity. This must be where Paula’s inspiration to help others came from.

As soon as the pre-schoolers were tucked in, the curtains drawn, and the lights were dimmed, Mrs Polestar put on a disc in the CD-player. It played a soft, tinkly, music box melody. Finger pressed to her lips, she quietly led Paula and Ness out through the front door.

As soon as they were outside, Mrs Polestar embraced Paula, kissing her cheeks. “Paula, are you okay? Are you hurt? Look at you, your shoes are all scuffed.” Paula stumbled for balance as her mother snatched Paula’s foot to polish her shoe with the end of her apron.

Paula barked a surprised laugh that caught in her throat. “That can happen, yeah.” She lifted her shoe from her mom’s grasp and hugged her again, sniffing slightly.

Ness averted his eyes, feeling all too suddenly like an intruder upon what should have been a private scene.

Paula pulled away, wiped her eyes, and gestured towards him. “Mom, this is Ness.”

Ness raised his hand in a meek wave. “Hi again.” 

To his surprise, Mrs Polestar rushed forwards and engulfed him in a hug. “Thank you. Not just for saving Paula” – Paula and Ness simultaneously cringed at the word ‘save’ – “but for saving _this family.”_

The entirety of Ness's face was on fire. This was far too grand a gesture than the situation warranted. “Um, it wasn’t much…”

Paula met eyes with the floundering Ness. “Come on, Mom, save it for the cameras.” The jab was playful enough. 

Mrs Polestar turned her head. “What was that, Paula?” she said. 

Something in the air changed, like someone had switched an invisible knob to a setting that made Ness's toes curl inside his shoes.

Paula’s face hitched, like she’d just remembered something. She glanced down. “Sorry for joking,” she said in a small voice. “I’m still a bit shocked about everything. It’s nice to be back.”

The cloud around Mrs Polestar’s expression turned sunny. And just like that, the moment was gone. The knob was spun back to normal. Ness was hungry and tired, he shoved the thought out of his mind.

As if reading his mind, Mrs Polestar said, “You two must be starving.” She stepped back from Ness. “You can tell us everything over some milk and pie.”

“Pie?” Paula lifted her head and an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me—”

“Yes, he is,” her mother responded, mouth pulled into a firm line.

The three of them went around the back of the building to reach the door that lead directly to the Polestar residence and into their kitchen.

In regular circumstances, the first thing you’d notice would be the creamy pale tiles, the large kitchen countertops with veggies and crackers as snacks for the kids, or the swinging slatted doors above one of the counters that looked into the pre-school area, likely to pass snacks between rooms for the pre-schoolers. 

These were not regular circumstances.

This was due to the simple fact that nearly every horizontal surface was covered in a legion of home-made pies. 

The countertops, the table, the top of the fridge, even stacked on top of each other – nowhere was safe. The freshest looking ones sat on the open window-sill, as if whoever put it there hoped the beguiling scent of pastry would lift someone off their feet and make them float towards the house like a cartoon character. Some in the farthest countertop looked droopy and stale.

The only person within this pie fortress was a blond man wearing a red apron, currently reaching into an open oven. He straightened up, bringing out a succulent cherry pie in a pair of yellow-checked oven mitts. His eyebrows nearly reached his hairline as he laid eyes on—

“Paula!” Mr Polestar almost flung the pie into the air. He rushed forward to give her a hug, realized he had a burning pie tray in his hands, smiled sheepishly as he turned to put it on the stovetop and came back to kneel down and envelop Paula in his arms.

_"Oh, Paula, my baby girl. I’m so SO glad you’re alright!”_

Paula hugged him back tightly. She pulled back, taking a moment to eye the tower of pies before giving her dad a look.

“Oh, right, sorry.” He gave a chastened laugh. “I was stress-baking again.”

For the second time today, Ness felt like an intruder. He gazed vacantly at this overt act of affection between child and father. 

“Honey, you have a right to be anxious,” Mrs Polestar kept her voice as unaffected as possible as she tiptoed through the landmine of pies in the direction of the fridge. “But there’s a reason why people invented—” The entirety of the fridge was filled with pie.

“That’s snack time covered for the next few weeks,” Paula muttered. Ness slammed his hand over his mouth to cover his laughter.

Ness looked up, catching the morose sagging of Mrs Polestar’s shoulders as she gazed onwards, leaning on the fridge door. But her posture straightened so seamlessly that Ness wasn’t sure if he’d imagined it. 

“Silver linings!” she said, shutting the door behind her. “We’ll have a pie feast for lunch. Paula, could you set the table?

“Would you like me to clear the table of pie before I set it?” Paula said.

“Yes please.” 

“I’ll help too,” Ness said, but Mrs Polestar had already turned around to start clearing the trays of dough and chopped fruit. Mr Polestar, truly grasping the mess he’d made, was quickly grabbing as many pies as possible before thinking about where he was going to put them next. 

“C’mon,” Paula said. “We keep the trash-bags here.”

Ness noted the déjà vu of helping clear another indoor space within the span of fifteen minutes. But instead of excitement and singing songs, there were only the sounds of footsteps and the swishing of plastic bags. No talking, only silence and precision. Maybe Paula’s parents were kinda embarrassed and so weren’t talking as a way to save face from this unique situation of dismantling a kingdom of pie, but the lack of acknowledgement only made the silence more oppressive. It felt like they were clearing away something dirty, something odd. There was a knot in Ness’s gut that made him feel like he was sinking into a bog of something tense and difficult, but he couldn’t put his finger on what.

Ness and Paula diligently put the creepiest looking pies in a black plastic bag. Paula’s face was stony. Ness couldn’t tell if this was a look of someone who was trying to move through this unique situation as swiftly as possible, or had seen it too many times before.

The two headed towards the backdoor to take the pie-filled trash bag to the kerb. 

“Paula, open your bag please.” Mrs Polestar walked across the kitchen with another bag of pie ingredients which she dropped into Paula’s. “And don’t furrow your brow so much, you’ll have wrinkles by the time you’re in high school.”

Paula made her face vacant. _"Forgive me. Mother,"_ she said in a robot voice. Ness snorted.

Mrs Polestar began, “And—”

 _"Thank you_ for reminding me to make sure the lid is closed, Mom, I’ll do just that,” she returned with a Polestar-brand smile as she tied the end of her bag into a bow.

Mentally stuttering on how to reply, Mrs Polestar sighed and said, “Just make sure you come back quickly.” 

Ness and Paula stepped outside and closed the door. Paula ran a few steps forward to make sure she was far enough from the house so she could drop her bag and clutch her belly laughing. Ness joined in, relieved for the release of tension.

“Sorry about all that. Mom and Dad care an awful lot about things, don’t they?”

“Yeah, that’s okay.” Ness’s grin faltered slightly. “Are your parents, um—” Ness wasn’t sure if he was crossing a line or not “—strict?”

“What makes you say that?” Paula said, her tone indicating how perfectly aware she was of the irony in her words.

“Well, they looked really nervous to see you gone. Do you think they’ll be okay with the whole, you know, saving the world from alien invasion meaning you’ll need to leave again, thing?” Ness had an image of Paula’s dad ‘stress-baking’ enough pies to cover the entirety of Twoson.

“The thought has crossed my mind.” She picked up the bag and moved towards the trash can at the side of the preschool. “But I know how to talk to them. I have a plan too.” Ness could tell the lightness in her voice was a bit put-upon. More like she was talking to herself rather than him. She turned and saw Ness’s expression. “There is nothing to worry about. The whole ‘world saving thing’ is a lot for anyone to take in, but if I explain it to them the right way they won’t have a reason to freak out or anything. Okay?” She punctuated this by dropping the bag in the can and closing the lid.

Again, even though Paula was looking at Ness, he wasn’t convinced she was truly talking to _him._ “Okay,” he said.

The two headed back into the kitchen, already a lot less chaotic. Mr Polestar was wiping down the counters while Mrs Polestar had manifested a broom and dustpan, sweeping pie crumbs off the floor. 

“The table?” Mrs Polestar said.

“Right away,” Paula said in that same overly chirpy voice she’d used coming into Twoson. Ness supposed that the plan started now. Ness grabbed plates while Paula grabbed placemats.

After they did so, Paula said, “I’ll get cups. Knives and forks are in the cabinet at the end over there.” She pointed. Simple enough. Ness grabbed four sets from the drawer, returned to the table, and started to put them on each of the placemats. As he placed the last set down he nearly jumped out of his skin as a hand appeared on his shoulder. 

“Thank you, Ness,” Mrs Polestar said, “but we do things a bit differently.” 

Mrs Polestar took the last set of stainless steel cutlery from Ness and returned them to the drawer, replacing them with a thick blue plastic knife and fork that Ness had overlooked. He'd thought those were for the pre-schoolers.

Mrs Polestar returned to the table and placed them on the last placemat. Paula walked forward with the four cups, her gaze was firmly planted downwards so Ness couldn’t meet her eye. She briskly placed the cups on each placemat and stood behind the seat with the bright blue cutlery.

Ness gulped. The gravitas and wit that Paula had carried into the room moments before had completely vanished.

Eventually, Mr Polestar brought out the freshest pies and, at Mrs Polestar’s lead, the four scraped their chairs towards the table, held hands to say grace (which Ness had never done before), and placed their napkins on their laps. 

“So, Paula,” Mr Polestar said carefully, “Now that you’re back. I think we can all agree that it’s probably for the best that you cut down on your walks around Twoson.” He turned to Ness. “Paula’s such a friendly soul. She'll say hi to anybody, even those hippies at Burglin park.” He returned to Paula, a little more serious. “But I think from now on it would be a good idea to make sure you have someone looking out for you, don’t you think, champ?”

Ness saw Paula’s hands clench on her lap. “That won’t really be a— “

“Paula, which kind would you like?” Mrs Polestar was leaned over the table, cutting the pies into slices.

“I’d like some of the apple, please,” she said softly.

“No problem, kiddo,” she responded, making no indication of noticing Paula’s gloom. “And you, Ness?” 

“Um, yes please.” Despite the dour mood, he and Paula had walked a long way living off of juice boxes and cookies. He gazed longingly at the golden, plump pies sitting on the table.

“Well, not _too_ much, since it looks like you already get plenty,” Mrs Polestar said with a pursed smile, cutting him a thin slice.

The implication hit Ness like a dumbbell. He closed his mouth and suddenly became intensely interested in the pattern of the placemat.

Paula rolled her shoulders back and spread her hands out easily. “Mom, come on.” Her smile was easy, voice radiating light. “We’re celebrating! Besides, we walked all the way from Peaceful Rest on foot, and if it weren’t for Ness, I wouldn’t even be here. Cut us some slack? I think he’s earned it.” The friendly beaming Paula who smiles at her neighbours and helps her mother at the preschool was present and taking questions. 

Underneath the table, Ness felt Paula’s foot pressing on his shoe. Not painfully, but as a way to assure she was here. Paula wasn’t looking at Ness, but he understood. _I’m so so sorry, I can’t believe she said that. I have this under control, don’t worry._

Mrs Polestar stopped. She looked at her daughter. 

“Oh,” Mrs Polestar said. “You’re angry, aren’t you?” 

There was no accusation in her voice. Just a soft acknowledgement of fact, a humble epiphany. But there was no apology in her tone either.

Paula inhaled sharply through her nose, composure knocked out of her like she’d been slapped. 

“It’s fine,” Mrs Polestar said. “I just worry about people’s health, that’s all. But you know best I suppose.” Mrs Polestar shrugged with an indifference that carried the weight of an atomic bomb. Ness shot his gaze back down as firmly as he could, not bearing to see Paula’s reaction. Maybe if he stared hard enough he could pretend he was somewhere else.

He heard Mrs Polestar serve everyone, the big knife slicing into the flesh of the pie and landing in a wet heap on his plate.

“Thank you.” Ness had no appetite. 

There was the gentle, tense clinking of knives and forks for a few moments. Ness did his best to eat, even though the pie tasted sickly sweet in his mouth and made him feel like he was gonna hurl. 

Someone would have to snap his neck to make him look at Paula. 

He’d always hated these kinds of things. He was the kind of person to bury his face in a couch pillow while watching a Friday night film with his mom and sister during the part in the movie where something went terribly wrong for the hero and there was nothing they could do about it. He couldn’t just walk out of the room and wait for the scene to end though, that’s not how these things worked. He was going to have to sit through every moment of this.

No omnipotence could bring him to look at the girl that he’d known for a day and a half who had been chastised in the most oblique yet heavy-handed way possible. He could only imagine how she looked. Head bent down like his? Face hot with embarrassment? On the verge of tears? He would not look at her, no, nope, nooo siree, not in a million—

“Mom, Dad, I need to tell you something important,” Paula said.

Ness peeked up from his baseball cap so he’d have the tiniest sliver of sight of the people at the table. Mrs and Mr Polestar looked up from their food with mild interest, as if there had only been a small road bump in the conversation rather than the screeching halt Ness had helplessly stood in periphery of. 

Paula wasn’t putting on the fake, happy voice from earlier, but spoke like the frankness he knew her for. “The first thing I did when I arrived was come down here. Not just because this is my home, and not just 'cause you’re obviously my parents, but because I knew I needed to tell you two something.” She spoke coolly, no tremble contaminated her inflection, only a matter-of-fact certainty that was very her. “It has to do with the visions I’ve been having lately, and I need you both to listen.”

Ness realized that he could still feel the weight of her shoe on his. That’s what made him fully lift his head and look at Paula.

Paula was sat up straight, face calm, hands steepled together like she was making careful negotiations. She was completely unburdened by any anguish Ness had pictured in his mind, and now felt foolish for even imagining. This was Paula, whose personality had enough punch to give you a whole sense of her even if you’d known her for either a day or less than a few minutes. Paula, the kid who was flame and ice and knew when to be what may have been humbled, but she was not giving up. 

The only thing that slightly blemished her controlled exterior was the blue knife and fork on her plate, which still filled Ness with an unease he couldn’t pinpoint.

“We’re listening, Paula,” her parents said.

Paula took a deep breath. “I think the visions are going to happen soon. Actually, I think they’re happening right now. Ness is the only one who can defeat a very big threat that’s gonna hurt a lot of people, maybe even the whole planet! And I’m one of the only people who can help Ness defeat it. I know it sounds like I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. I know this is all real and important because the bad people who kidnapped me were being controlled by the entity who doesn’t want me helping Ness.”

Mr Polestar said, “But—”

Paula raised a hand. “Can I finish, please?” Mr Polestar closed his mouth. Ness put his head down again, though this time only to hide the small grin curling around his mouth.

Paula continued, “You guys have always told me that I’m blessed, and that I should take as many opportunities as I can to use my powers to help others.” Paula took a moment. There was a lingering sense of restraint to her words. It wasn’t holding back emotion, but to give her the space to think. Behind her eyes there was a careful calculation of every choice of words, meter, and tone. Weighing countless iterations of the best way to articulate her thoughts before settling on the right one. “And… basically, the only way I will be able to do that is by directly helping Ness and whatever things him, two others, and I will eventually have to confront together. I know the idea of me doing something like that can be scary, but this might be the most important thing I ever do.

“So,” Paula spoke slowly, wanting every word to be clearly understood, “what I’m trying to say here, is that I’ll have to leave for a bit. And, _I need, you guys, to be, okay with that.”_

Paula’s parents took a moment to collect their thoughts. Keeping his face still, Ness took the opportunity to place his foot from underneath Paula’s to on top of hers. 

_Good job,_ he pressed twice.

Paula’s foot didn’t move in response, but he knew that she was bracing herself for whatever was coming next, just like he was. 

Finally, Paula’s parents looked at each other and broke into wide smiles. “Aw, honey,” Mrs Polestar said. “Of course we support you!”

“You… Really?” It was Paula’s turn to look stupefied. Wide-eyed, she leaned back in her chair with the face of someone who was seeing mountains of counter-arguments and rebuttals burn to a crisp in her mind's eye.

Ness deflated with relief as he let go of a breath he hadn't realized he’d been holding.

“Of course we do!” Mr Polestar said. “We’re so proud of you. We raised a raised a fine young lady didn’t we, Lou? Paula really is going to be the one to save our little town.”

Paula cracked a tiny smile. She let go of the act she had been playing with the relief of peeling a stuffy coat off her shoulders. No more acting like an adult, she had permission to be a kid basking in praise.

Mr Polestar said, “Just think; you, going out into the world, meeting all kinds of people. And after they all see how wonderful the Pride of Twoson is, they’ll be flocking from all over just to come see the place. It’ll be great for business!”

Paula’s face froze, a notch forming on her brow. 

“I won’t exactly be running a campaign for the Twoson tourism board, Dad.” She laughed a snatch too loudly, like she was trying to force her dad’s statement into the joke it wasn’t. She dug into her pie trying to distract herself. 

“Either way, you won’t have to worry about it too much yet,” Mrs Polestar said. “In fact, Paula, we have some important news for you too! It’s _such_ good luck that you were able to bring her back today, Ness.” 

Mouth half full, Paula narrowed her eyes. “Uh-huh, why’s that?” 

Mrs Polestar cleared her throat, squinting at one Paula Polestar to mind her manners, who did not elect to react. Face only momentarily still, Mrs Polestar reignited to life as she exclaimed, “It means that Paula is just in time to be in the Founder’s Parade!”

Paula made a choked sputter that made the half-chewed piece of pie she was in the middle of swallowing splat onto the front of her dress.

“Oh, Paula, there you go,” Mrs Polestar said. “Let me—”

“It’s fine, Mom, I’ve got it.” Paula grabbed her napkin, dabbing it against her dress despite the damp, crummy patch that remained.

Wanting to avoid _another_ stretch of silence that would make Ness want to knead his hands into fists and pull his hair by the roots, he asked as innocently as he could muster: “What’s the Founder’s Parade?”

“It’s an annual holiday in Twoson happening in two days,” Mrs Polestar said, eyes brimming with excitement. She seemed to be able to muster glee out of nowhere. Being a preschool teacher must do that to a person. “It’s to celebrate when Twoson was first founded.” 

“There’s parade floats, food stalls, fireworks, it’s great!” Mr Polestar added, smiling warmly.

Mrs Polestar continued, “Paula’s always talked about wanting to be in it— (“Once. When I was four,” Paula muttered.) —and usually one of the local businesses leads the first float. _Buuuut,_ after speaking to the mayor we were able to agree on having Paula on the head of the first float to represent the preschool. It’ll be so wholesome!” She clasped her hands up to her cheek.

Paula looked mortified. “You did all of this without telling me?”

“We wanted it to be a surprise!”

“Well I don’t like surprises - you know this!” Paula flushed bright red. Ness felt Paula’s shoe disappear. All restraint and politeness was gone. “And besides, we can’t stay for two days. Ness and I need to go tomorrow morning at the _latest."_

Paula’s parents went quiet. 

Ness had realized something throughout the peaks and valleys of this scenario he was very, very ready to leave from. 

Ness was no stranger to unideal parents. Take Pokey’s folks. They were ‘strict’ too. While their words could be light, the way they said things always dripped with some sort of sarcasm or unkindness about your clothes or how much money your parents made that made you always tiptoe around them.

With Paula’s parents, it was the opposite. They were so nice and caring and sickly sweet it made you feel terrible for saying anything contrary to them. Their enthusiasm was too happy, almost _Happy Happy_ happy. But Ness could tell it wasn’t exactly like that either. The Happy Happyists were ignorant - blindly following a movement due to a mix of brainwashing and a lack of support making them yearn to be something bigger than themselves. The thing that creeped him out now was that underneath all of the hospitality and politeness of Mr and Mrs Polestar, there was something honed and purposeful that paralysed Ness in his seat. Happiness wasn’t an ideology, it was their weapon. 

Mr and Mrs Polestar gave each other the slightest of conspiratory looks, a wordless agreement had been made. 

“Paula,” Mrs Polestar looked at her daughter like she was a newborn lamb. “It’s so sweet how you’re always in such a rush to help others. But don’t you want to do something nice for yourself before you go?”

“Exactly! Think of it like a big ‘going-away’ party,” Mr Polestar said. 

Ness wanted to look down again, but he forced himself not to. It was the best way to support Paula that he could think of, even though he felt like a lone satellite in the middle of a fiery constellation of shooting Polestars.

“This isn’t even a case of me not wanting to,” Paula said firmly, hands balled into fists at the table. “I _can’t_ stay. Full stop.”

“The decision’s been made,” Mrs Polestar said.

“But this is urgent.”

“It can wait.”

 _"Saving the world can wait?"_ she yelled.

“And I already bought you a dress,” Mrs Polestar said with an air of finality. 

Paula scowled. A deep, hateful scowl that spoke all of the words that she wasn’t allowed to say at her age.

Mrs Polestar’s tone softened. “The rehearsal’s tomorrow at three. So in the morning we can get up early to pick up your outfit and some shoes and fix up your hair—"

“I SAID NO.” Paula slammed her hands against the table. The silence suffocated. A far-away wail came from the preschool room.

“I would like to be excused please,” Paula mumbled.

Without waiting for a response, her chair shrieked against the tiles as she pushed herself away from the table. “C’mon, Ness.”

Ness stood up, pushed his chair into the table, bobbed his head towards the Polestars, and quickly followed Paula out the backdoor of the house.

“At least wipe your shirt first!” Mrs Polestar called before the door slammed shut. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a bit, hey? Let's finish the story.

Paula and Ness left the preschool. She walked in long, stiff strides while Ness trailed behind her.

He looked over his shoulder in a mix of hope and fear to see if anyone was following.

No one else came out of the preschool building.

Ness turned his gaze forward. He saw no indication of Paula staring anywhere but straight ahead. He couldn’t blame her.

This was the sort of thing you fantasised about, right? Storming out of your house, having the last word, hearing the door slam like a terrific crash of cymbals in the climax of a symphony.

But Ness didn’t feel like punching the air in triumph. He felt like he wanted to puke.

They walked two blocks before Paula slowed her stride and turned around.

“See, what did I tell you? Worst first is the way to go!” She smiled with too many teeth, like a grimace.

Ness couldn’t think of what to say, and Paula saw. Her face fell. She knew she wasn’t fooling anyone. She turned on her heel and trudged on.

They walked through empty suburbs. Kids were at school, and adults were at work or running errands - it was a ghost town. Ness stared down the barrel of identical rows of houses in front and behind him. The windows watched like eyes. Ness felt queasy thinking about how anything could be happening behind those closed doors, how something so benign as four walls and a roof could hide something so insidious. He’d always thought that Pokey’s family was an isolated case, an unhappy anomaly in an otherwise happy Earth. But now the Polestars…

What else didn’t he know about? What quiet unhappiness lurked in living rooms and mealtimes? What injustices would never see the light of day? Sure, his own family fought sometimes, and he had a dad that could be around more often. But the thought that their mundane unremarkability wasn’t the rule but the exception left him sick, droopy, lethargic - clogged with sentimentality.

Was this growing up? It didn’t feel like it. He felt childish and small.

And then there was Paula to think about. His brain was a washing machine of questions battering against the walls of his head. _Are you ever going back there? Are you okay? Where are we going? How are you? What was up with the cutlery though? Do you need to talk?_

Ness had to mentally start and stop three times before he spoke. “Paula—”

“Listen, I know, okay? I know.” Paula didn’t interrupt her stride. “I shouldn’t have stormed off like that. Can we just not talk about it, like, at all?”

Ness shrank. The last thing he’d expected was for Paula to use that tone on _him._

He shut his eyes and breathed to stop any excess emotion from spilling over. He had to remind himself that Paula wasn’t mad at _him,_ she was just mad. Like his mom always said: You can’t judge someone until you walk a mile in their shoes. Well, Ness had just walked a whole marathon in Paula’s shoes, so he had a hunch that the most helpful thing he could do right now was keep his trap shut.

“Okay,” Ness responded.

The two navigated the labyrinth of suburbs to the west of town. With pie on her dress and the tenseness around her shoulders, Paula was in no mood to perform. She ignored any adults they passed who tried to catch her attention. It was only Ness who noticed the grown-ups lowering their arms, gazing at them in bemusement or worry or looks of ‘how dare she?’

Paula either didn’t notice or didn’t care. And it didn’t matter. The scenery was changing as they switched neighbourhoods. Suffice to say, the kinds of people who would say hello to their neighbours as they trimmed their hedges decreased significantly as they walked towards the scrappier end of Twoson and into Burglin park.

Burglin park was a market of densely packed stands and picnic mats selling just about everything. Fruit, jars of preserves, garage-sale detritus, even individual condiment packets.

Ness was familiar. The last time he’d been here, he was shaken down by a guy giving him a five-minute sales pitch on why he should buy a For Sale sign. Ness caved. After carrying it around for a block, he immediately went to the Twoson hotel and called Tracey to pick it up.

The two followed the cement pathway that ended abruptly at a dinky little house at the far end of the park. Muffled TV noises came from inside the house.

This was Everdred’s house. Everdred, the last person who’d seen Paula and the one who pointed Ness in the direction of Peaceful Rest Valley.

This was also the same Everdred who, upon Ness walking up to him for the first time, had jumped down from the roof of his house and attempted to bite him.

Ness actually hadn’t talked to Paula about Everdred yet. Everdred had told him to bring Paula here once he’d found her. But in all of the hubbub of getting out of Happy Happy village, fighting a giant mole, and weathering Peaceful Rest valley - Ness realized he’d completely forgotten to mention it to Paula. Ness had no idea what Everdred actually wanted with her, let alone if they even knew each other.

He turned to ask Paula, but the question died in his lips as he saw the way she stared at the house. A small grin curled around her face. Slowly, she folded her hands together into a finger gun, shut one eye, and poked her tongue out of her mouth in concentration as she aimed her hands towards the roof.

“Um, Paula wh—”

A bolt of electricity blasted out of Paula’s fingers. Ness flung his hands to his ears as the PK Thunder zapped the roof’s TV antenna with a CRACK! of lightning.

The TV sounds coming from the house abruptly stopped, replaced by a loud yelp and a string of muffled yells and curses.

Ness slowly turned his head to Paula, eyes wide as saucers.

Oh God, Ness thought, Paula was going to take out her anger by beating up Everdred.

Ness opened his backpack and feverishly reached for his baseball bat.

The door slammed open. A squat figure in flowy bell-bottoms, an orange flower-power shirt, and horseshoe mustache leaped out of the house. “Alright, now which one of you twerps thought—” He locked eyes with Paula.

Everdred’s face broke into a smile. He let out a hearty laugh. “Well, if it ain’t the pride and joy of Twoson!”

Paula ran towards him. “Uncle Everdred!” she hollered, arms spread out for a hug.

“C’mere, ya little banshee!” He grabbed her into a headlock and mussed up her hair. Paula fought back, shrieking with laughter.

Ness sagged with relief. He swung his backpack forward to put away his bat. He really needed to start asking Paula for details before they stepped into houses. His poor nerves couldn’t take it.

Everdred let go of Paula and clapped a hand on her shoulder “Good to see you in one piece, kid. Didn’t expect any less of you.”

Paula beamed.

Everdred noticed Ness standing a few feet away and chuckled. He leaned down to Paula and raised a hand over his face in that _we’re totally not talking about you_ gesture and stage-whispered: “You better watch out for this schmuck, P. He’ll break your ankle!” Everdred lifted his pant leg to show off the dressing poking out of his shoe.

Ness flinched. That wasn’t his fault! Everdred was the one jumping off of rooftops to frighten kids who got too close. “Hey! I-I didn’t—”

“BAAAAHHH!” Everdred let out a foghorn laugh. “Forget about it, kid. I’m just pulling your leg.”

“More like pulling your ankle,” Paula smirked. She and Everdred looked at eachother and started laughing all over again.

Ness observed the two of them. The manner of speech, the shared Cheshire cat grins, the easy way they held themselves like they didn’t care who was watching...

It all clicked. The origin of Paula’s laid back vibe while they were chatting in Peaceful Rest. It certainly didn’t come from being raised in the Polestar residence. Paula must’ve known Everdred for a while then, Ness thought. He made a note to ask Paula about it as soon as he could.

“Anyway, why don’t you two come in?” Everdred said.

Inside, Evedred’s house was a one-room house that tried to combine the best aspects of every room at once. A stove top, minifridge, sofa, a desk and office chair, and a pair of bean bags next to a game system plugged into a small tv stand. The only thing out of place was a giant wooden shelf that took up half the back wall with stacks of papers and folders.

“Make yourselves comfortable. You can keep your shoes on, or take ‘em off. Whatever you need to do to let your hair down.” Everdred flicked his hand through his black bob-cut hair. Paula chortled. He managed to look jaunty in his step, despite the slight limp.

Even though the stuff here didn’t look as well-to-do as the Polestar residence, Ness was just happy there weren’t any towers of pie. It was kinda homey here. And Everdred wasn’t scary, he was just weird. Ness could deal with weird. Everdred was by no means the weirdest thing he’d dealt with yet.

Paula kicked off her shoes and walked in with the ease of walking into her own bedroom. “Boy it’s good to be back.” She stretched her arms behind her. “What were you even doing, Ed? Taking one of your midday siestas?” she said the last word with a flourish.

“I was following my schedule. Which was very rudely interrupted, may I add.” He wagged his finger.

“Ha! I knew it. Maybe your cable bill wouldn’t be so bad if you stopped falling asleep with the TV on.”

“Once I figure out how to file that under business expenses I will be unstoppable, Miss Polestar.”

Ness occupied himself by looking at every corner of the house, idly spinning one the spot.

Everdred said, “What are you? Riding an invisible teacup ride?”

Ness stopped mid-rotation and turned to Everdred. “Uh, no. I was just wondering how they let you build a house in the middle of a park.”

“Well actually, it’s a permanent shop front - legally speaking. And, legally, a building in which I conduct business. You write a permit here, you pay a guy there, and presto! House! Easy as that.”

“What do you sell?” Ness eyed the shelf full of papers.

“Pipe cleaners,” Paula said.

“Rubber ducks,” Everdred said at the same time.

The two looked at each other and grinned; another inside joke lost on Ness.

“Well either way,” Everdred shambled over to the TV, “looks like I’ll have to sell a kidney because some damn hooligan chump tried to fry my house like a fork in a microwave, that I can tell you for free.”

Paula waved her hand carelessly. “Eh, put it on my tab.”

Everdred rubbed his forehead, grumbling something about letting Paula watch too many gangster movies.

With Everdred occupied with the TV, Ness leant up to Paula. “What does he do anyway?”

“He’s never actually told me,” she said in a low voice. “He changes it every time. I don’t think he sells anything really. Just a lotta paperwork stuff. He tried explaining it to me once a few years ago. Something about permits and being a real civil servant? But he had to be making it up cause it sounded so boring, and Everdred—”

Everdred yelped as a spark of electricity zapped his hands after he tried to pull out a cable.

“—is Everdred,” she finished. Her eyes shone looking at this hippie looking dude shaking the pain out of his fingers. Ness’s mind bubbled with theories about how Paula could’ve possibly met the second-sketchiest-looking dude Ness had ever seen in his whole life. Pen-pals?

Everdred got to his feet. He gave the TV that defeated look adults gave to electronics when they knew they’d have to pay someone a bit more money than they’d like to fix it. He turned to Paula and Ness. “Anyway, you two must be starving. Ness!” Everdred pointed at him. “Get me my pizza phone!” He swung his hand to the far corner of the room. There sat a ramshackle landline phone. It looked like it was frankensteined together from ill fitting chunks of plastic and metal.

Ness didn’t move, immobile in perplexity.

“Pizza phone! C’mon, kid!”

“But…” Ness looked at the derelict phone, then back at Everdred. “It doesn’t even look like pizza.”

Everdred gave a bereaved sigh like he was saying: _can you believe this guy? Doesn’t even know a pizza phone when it’s sitting right in front of him._

Paula couldn’t disagree. Bent over, she tried smothering the laughter escaping her hands. “Sorry, oh my God, Ness, I’m not laughing at you it’s just—”

Paula let out another string of strangled cackles as Everdred explained, “I had that Apple Kid make it for me. He’s been trying to make his own phones from scratch and was complaining that he was stuck at making a phone that could make calls but couldn’t receive ‘em. And I says to him, ‘Are you kidding? That’s the best thing you’ve invented yet, man!’ I can just call people to let ‘em know stuff, and if someone actually has something important to tell me then they can just knock on my door and tell me in person. Also I call pizza. So.” Everdred opened and closed his hand expectantly.

“Um, sure.” Ness picked up the pizza phone receiver and handed it to Everdred. He noticed the number buttons were out of metal keys from those old fashioned cash registers.

Everdred dialled the number and held it to his ear. “Any preferences?” he asked the kids as he waited for the line.

“Supreme!” Paula pumped both fists in the air as she threw herself onto a bean bag.

“Easy. Ness?”

“Um.”

“NESS QUICK THEY’LL PICK UP ANY SECOND!”

“JUST CHEESE THANK YOU.”

“OKAY!— _Heyyyyy,_ could I order three large pizzas?” Everdred turned his back as he talked on the phone.

Ness walked over to Paula and the orange bean bag she was sitting on.

“Isn’t he great?" Paula grinned. She scooched over and made space on the beanbag for Ness. “I really missed this.” She crossed her arms behind her head and made herself comfy as Ness shrugged off his backpack and sat next to her. He sunk farther than he expected into the cushy fabric. It instantly made him happy. It is universal law that beanbags - just above lava lamps and snow globes - rank highest in every kid’s hierarchy of needs. The prospect of pizza was also invigorating. His appetite was coming back and he was realising he was famished.

“So, is Everdred your real uncle?” Ness stared hypnotised at Everdred’s orange-sleeved gesticulations as he talked into the phone.

“He might as well be,” Paula said. “He and I go way back. I think it’s been two, wait no, three years since I’ve known him.”

“Yeah but how did you meet?”

“It’s sort of a funny story.” Her eyes lit up as a lightbulb went off in her head. She shook Ness’s shoulder. “Ask him when he gets back! He tells it so good. Shh! Here he comes.”

Everdred thanked the pizza chain, hung up, and put the receiver in his pants which apparently had pockets big enough to put a full-sized phone in.

“They say it’ll take twenty minutes for it to get here. I’ll hold them to that.” Everdred pulled a stopwatch from under his shirt and pressed a button. “Someone’s gotta keep those rubberneckers in check. There is no service more important on earth than fast food delivery,” he said.

“Amen,” Paula nodded solemnly.

“In the meantime, let’s break bread!” Everdred opened the minifridge and dug around inside. “Ness, you drink root beer?”

“Yeah.”

Everdred tossed two cans simultaneously over his shoulders.

Ness froze. Paula whipped out her hand.

The cans froze in mid air, then calmly drifted down to Ness and Paula.

Paula frowned as she plucked a root beer from the air. “Thanks, Ed. Now we gotta wait for them not to fizz.” She started to experimentally tap her fingernail against the sides of the can.

Ness followed suit and reached for the other. The can was refreshingly cold against his skin.

“Hey! I’m just keeping your mind sharp!” Everdred kicked the minifridge door closed. “Also I wanted to see how well Dreamboy over there would react.” He hopped and sat on the minifridge as he opened his own can of rootbeer with a satisfying crack.

“Ew, don’t say it like that,” Paula murmured, attention wholly focused on the can. “Visions are distinct from dreams. Dreams are just mixed up thoughts I’ve had throughout the day. Visions are weird. They make my shins sore and my hair all sweaty.”

“You had visions about me?” Ness said.

Paula looked up. “Well yeah,” she said as if explaining she did band practice after school. “That’s how I knew your name, that you had a striped shirt, and wore red baseball caps. Also that you’d be instrumental in saving Earth as we know it. No biggie.” Paula lifted the can to her ear, her face wound tight in concentration to see if it was still fizzing. She gave up and looked at the ceiling. “Eugh, Ed, do you have any more of these things?”

“Those were the last three. Sorry, champ.” Everdred drank from his can. One could tell by the way his mustache reached his round sunglasses he was much too smug.

Paula groaned. She held the can sideways and turned it like she was studying a map. “Maybe if I tried freezing it and then making it hot again…”

“Don’t. Don’t do that,” Ness said quickly. “My sister and I put some soda cans in the freezer once ‘cause we wanted them to get cold quickly but we forgot about them. Then they exploded and we got in so much trouble.”

“Exploded, huh?” She looked at the can in a new light. “I wonder how well it’d work on enemies.”

“I don’t think it’s worth wasting soda for,” Ness said.

“True. I can’t drink this stuff at home, so.” Paula’s expression flattened for a moment. Just as quickly, she kicked Ness’s shoe with her foot. “Hey, you haven’t asked your thing!”

“My thing—? Oh! Right! My thing!” Ness turned to Everdred. “Mr Everdred, how do you know Paula?”

Everdred brightened up. “Oh boy I love this story!” He planted the can next to him so that his hands were free. He readjusted his position like this was a practiced performance. “I was making the rounds in Burglin when I see this kid, staring at the ground like the grass had offended her. She has this set look of determination I’ve seen on guys four times her size. Except they don’t usually wear pink as well as she does.”

Paula snorted.

“Anyway, I walk up to her and ask what she’s doing. She says to me she got in trouble for making electrical currents between pencils again. And I ask: ‘Oh, like a science experiment?’ And she says to me, dead serious: _‘No. I am electric.’”_

Paula smiled bashfully and buried her head in her hands. “Augh! I was so weird back then!”

“You sure were,” Everdred said. “Anyway, I hear her say that and I think to myself: ‘Geez, this kid is crazy. But hey so am I and I’ve got a reputation to uphold.’ So I ask her to prove it. I kicked hornet nests as a kid, what can I say? And so she puts her hands in front of her and does a friggin cat’s cradle with lightning. Craziest thing I’d ever seen! Like this—” He put his hands in front of him and made thunder noises with his mouth.

“You mean like this?” Paula held out her hands in front of her and with a flash, yellow angry threads of electricity crackled and popped between her fingers. The currents buzzed like a swarm of angry hornets as her hair spiked up around her head in a jagged halo.

“Hot-dog!” Everdred’s eyebrows shot up. “Now that ain’t bad! That’s a lot bigger than the last time I saw that trick.”

Paula shrugged. “I’ve had practice.” She extinguished the electricity. Ness was grateful the noise was gone.

“Anyway,” Everdred said. “After that I asked her to fix my stereo that was fritzing out. She’s been terrorising my home appliances ever since.”

“Yep!” Paula said. “And in return Everdred keeps me from going crazy.”

“Hey, nothing wrong with going a bit crazy. Important lesson for you two: Crazy - is - fine. Long as it’s manageable, though. If you’re unmanageably crazy then that’s not fun for anyone. Well, fun for you, until a whole host of people decide they’ve had enough of your public loitering around private business establishments and bouts of yelling at three in the morning and decide to put you in a box. Not that I know anything about it. Anyway. That answer your question, Ness?”

“Yeah,” Ness chuckled. He was starting to like Everdred a bit more. Even though he was a bit off his rocker and clearly sketchy as hell, there was something about Everdred’s lackadaisical manner that felt both larger than life but down to earth. Ness didn’t feel like he had to comply with any of the dumb ‘no elbows on the table’ artifices that grownups insisted on just to make your life harder. I mean chewing with your mouth open made sense, but elbows? C’mon! He bet Everdred would be cool about elbows on the table. Ness started to get an inkling as to why Paula liked it so much here.

Everdred settled in his seat as he propped his foot on his knee. “Hey, so since we’re playing twenty questions I get a turn. What kinda psychic stuff do you do, Ness?”

Ness was caught a bit unawares. He’d never really been asked about his PSI, let alone by an adult. He’d talked shop about it with Paula, but that was different because she also did PSI. You were talking with an equal. He wasn’t sure what the expectation was here. “Well, I can make stuff float too, a little. I can hear animals. I can sorta make light… Um...” This was feeling prideful. Wasn’t pride bad? He didn’t like setting expectations he couldn’t meet.

“Don’t sell yourself short, dude!” Paula thumped Ness’s back. “Ness can stun enemies, he has this super strong light attack that hits a whole lot. And he can heal things! Like, consistently!”

“Healing, huh?” Everdred scratched his chin. “Think you can heal my heel? Well, ankle.” He giggled at his own pun.

Ness was dumbstruck. Why hadn’t he offered that earlier?

“I can try. I think I’ve got one more left in me.” Ness shuffled over while Everdred lifted his pant leg. It was at this point that Ness took a better look at the “dressing” around his ankle.

“Did you use duct tape to fix a sprained ankle?” Ness asked.

“Geez, mind your beeswax, kid. Thought you were gonna heal me not hassle me.”

“Right.” Ness cupped his hands an inch above the ankle. “It won’t hurt but it does feel kinda… squashy. So um, sorry.”

A soft light emanated from Ness’s palms. He held them there for a few seconds then pulled his hands back. “There. Try walking on it.”

Everdred made a move to pick the edge of the duct tape, thought better of it, and hopped off the minifridge. He took a few experimental steps. His face split into a wide grin. “That’s amazing, kid. Would you look at that!” He did a little jig, hopping from one foot to the other.

Paula clapped in rhythm. “You’ve got it!”

Ness laughed watching this old dude do a silly little dance that was all flowy sleeves and pants. Everdred ended with a flourishing kick of his ankles and a bow. Ness and Paula applauded.

“Phew!” Everdred wiped his forehead. “Almost makes me forget you were the reason I rolled it in the first place.”

Everdred saw the dawning terror in Ness’s face and laughed. “Ha! I’m screwing with you, kid. Don’t worry so much about what people think of you. That’s all water under the bridge. Gone, ka-zap, blamo! If you get too bogged down by stuff, you’re sunk. Got it?”

“Sorta.”

“Anyway, that’s enough chin-wagging from me.” Everdred retook his seat on the minifridge. He tapped his heels together, still pleased to have his foot back. “It’s your turn to take the floor.” He indicated for Ness to take his seat next to Paula.

“We get to ask questions now?” Ness asked as he sat down.

“Nope, still my turn. You asked me why I used duct tape. That counted as a question.”

Fine by me, Ness thought. He sat with his chin in his hands, interested in whatever this strange man would say next, even if it meant bending the rules to a game only Everdred seemed to be playing.

“So, Paula. I heard word that you got kinda held up in your investigation in Peaceful Rest and ended up near that Happy Happy place. So, I sent Ness your way to make sure you weren’t having too much fun without me and hadn’t decided to leave this old man behind. Looks like he convinced you,” he chuckled slightly.

Ness’s brow creased slightly. Everdred had sent Ness after Paula because he’d told Ness she’d been kidnapped. Was Everdred telling a joke?

Paula was unperturbed by this phrasing. She rolled her eyes. “You’re not old. Trust me, I’ve seen really old people. They look old and act old - complete opposite to you.”

“Details, kid.” Everdred snapped his fingers. “What happened over there?”

Paula shrugged and leant back casually. “Yeah, we got a bit held up. But it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.”

Everdred paused. His mouth was pulled in a firm line. He lowered his voice. “Paula, you were gone for three nights. Were you okay?” He sounded different. His voice was simultaneously light but heavy.

Paula faltered. What could she say? She hadn’t told Ness in too much detail what it was like being in that cabin, and frankly, Ness wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Paula’s hands gripped the beanbag tightly, like pinching the skin of a giant animal, then quickly slackened.

“Of course I was, I had Ness to help me.” She elbowed him. “I told Ness where I was, he helped bust me out, we beat a giant mole, heard a song, and my PSI is really good now.” Paula pointed her pinky and pointer finger up like a rock and roll sign, and juggled three tiny planets of ice, fire, and electricity between them. “Complete win.”

Ness had picked up his root beer can and was rolling it between his hands. His palms were slick from the condensation, almost like it was nervous too.

“How about you, Nesster?”

Ness jolted to attention.

“Any interest in corroborating Attorney Paula’s testimony?”

“Attorneys don’t testify, Ed,” Paula mumbled.

Ness’s stomach churned. The nausea came back. Even though he’d only eaten a few mouthfuls of Polestar pie, it felt like it was gonna upchuck.

His eyes darted to Paula. Was there a wrong thing to say here? His gut told him to tread carefully.

“Um, yeah.” He rubbed the scrapes on his knee. “After I got Paula out, we got another sanctuary location, went through Peaceful Rest, got here...”

“That’s all?” Everdred said.

Ness looked up, nodded, then threw his gaze back down.

“And what’s that?” Everdred pointed to the front of Paula’s dress. It was still covered in pie stains.

Paula crossed her arms over her chest. Her mouth was set in a grim line as she stared at the floor.

Ness flushed. He stared at his lap, feeling like he’d done something wrong.

Everdred’s expression was difficult to read behind his glasses and mustache. He carefully put down his can. “Well, two good things, Paula. First, your pal Ness isn’t a narc. That’s always good.”

Paula didn’t react. Everdred’s mustache drooped. It was clear that humour wasn’t going to do anything when it came to this subject. He spoke slowly, like he was taking great care in every word.

“It was a good thing you did dropping by home-base first, P. That was the right choice. Your folks were worried sick.”

“Mm.” Paula was preoccupied pinching her dress’s lapel.

“...Uneventful, I’m guessing?” Everdred ventured, trying to get some kind of clue.

“Ha! Anything but.” Paula had that look again, that rigid bitterness around her shoulders and face like brittle rock. “I explained that the visions were happening and I would have to leave soon.”

“Right.” Everdred nodded. “And they didn’t believe you?”

“Oh, they believed me. They just didn’t give a damn.”

“Hey, language.”

Paula’s head jerked up. She made a small betrayed scoff. “I’ve heard you say worse!”

“All moments of weakness. Now, go on. I want to hear the whole story.” He leaned forward and with his elbows against his legs.

Paula glared at the ceiling, dredging up the anger, the frustration. Rewinding a tape to sit in that memory all over again. “Well we got there and Mom was Mom and Dad was stress-baking.”

Everdred winced. “Eesh. How bad was it?”

She sat up. “Apocalyptic. The whole thing couldn’t have gone worse! They don’t have any idea how to act when I bring people over.” Paula leapt to her feet. “Mom called Ness fat like it was nothing, and they were just acting like complete weirdos!”

Paula started to pace. “And anyway despite all that I calmly - _calmly_ \- explained to them why Ness and I had to leave, and how the visions were happening, and why it was really important. And they could have been normal! They could have been all: _‘Wow Paula, that’s so brave of you. We’ll be worried but we understand and will support you and stuff.’_ But _noooooo_. They just suggested all these ways I could advertise the town and the preschool like I’d be walking around Eagleland with a darn billboard around my neck!”

She was really on a roll now, like a freight train down a slope, she couldn’t be stopped. “And you haven’t even heard the best part. They told me they’d signed me up for the Founder’s Day parade _behind - my - back_. Can you believe it? And they acted so indignant when I told them I didn’t wanna go. It’s like, they think they’re doing me SUCH a favour. But I don’t want any of it! And they don’t care! They don’t care at all! They can see how frustrated and pissed I am and they just don’t care. NO ONE CARES HOW I FEEL!”

Paula’s face was bright red. You could hear her throat going raw with the crescendo of her shouts.

“How can they expect me to act like an adult when they keep treating me like a kid? I can’t be both! It’s not fair! I can see in their faces how disappointed they are that I’m acting up - but can you blame me? I tell them bad things are gonna happen, and they don’t listen. They make a huge deal when I can’t do things the way they want even when it’s hard for me. They never listen and just! Talk over me! They tell people I can heal but I can’t. Old people, sick people - like, really _really_ sick people come into our house expecting me to heal them but I can’t! I can’t heal ANYTHING! I can’t control the Light! It’s not part of me! But Mom and Dad don’t care!”

Ness squinted. What was she talking about?

Paula’s anger manifested in a red angry rash spreading all over her cheeks, her nose, her eyes.

“They don’t get it! They want my powers when it’s convenient and fits the image of me that they have in their heads even though it’s not me! And if they can’t even recognise it’s not me, then how can I be sure they even love me?”

There was a quivering silence. Paula’s breath came out in high strangled pants. Her hands were clenched into white-knuckled fists. No one dared move.

Paula’s body was overtaken in a shuddering sigh. Half a laugh, half a sob.

“I mean.” She sniffed, wiping her arm across her nose. “They won’t e-even leh-let me use _nn-normal cut-ler-eee.”_

Paula broke.

She sank to the floor and buried her face into her hands. Her body lurched with a heaving wail.

Like lightning, Everdred wordlessly knelt down next to her. She shoved her face into Everdred’s shirt, her shoulders shook with each sob.

 _“It’s nuh… i-it’s n-not f-fair!”_ she cried.

“I know, I know…” Everdred brought Paula into a hug and rubbed her back.

Ness looked away respectfully. Seeing a fellow kid cry elicited deep pity, both in the sadness they embodied, and the self-conscious recognition of self as you thought ‘gee, is that what I look like when I cry?’

It felt intensely wrong to see Paula like this. Paula had been a rock at his side, an individual of staggering confidence that Ness felt like he’d been missing this whole trip. And now she was like this and he was just sitting there. What on earth was he meant to do now? He felt lost and directionless and useless.

“Psst.”

Ness looked up. Everdred stared at him, then flicked his head towards Paula’s unopened can of root beer.

Ness got to his feet. Overcome with relief for having a job to do, he picked up the can and handed it to Everdred.

“Thanks, champ,” Everdred whispered. He turned to Paula. Her wails had receded to a few stuttering bawls. “Take your time, P.” He rubbed her back with one hand and offered her the can in the other. “When you’re ready, I want you to drink this, okay? It’ll help.”

Everdred and Ness waited patiently as Paula gradually managed to steady her breaths. She peeled herself off the damp patch she’d created on Everdred’s shirt. Her face came away crumpled and splotched. Everdred opened the can - Ness let go of a breath when it didn’t foam over - and Paula took it and drank, swallowing loudly.

Meanwhile, Ness took a few steps back and sat. He didn’t want to crowd her, even though he had the powerful urge to rush over and hug her. Paula looked completely spent.

Paula wiped her eyes with the collar shirt, damp with snot and tears. “Everdred, why can’t I just be normal? I don’t want these powers anymore.”

“Aww, P.” Everdred crossed his legs and hugged Paula as she leant her head on his shoulder. “We’ve talked about this. Your powers are what make you you. And you are awesome. If you take ‘em away, then you wouldn’t be Paula anymore.” He moved Paula so they were looking each other in the eye. “You tired of being you?”

Paula’s head dropped onto Everdred’s chest with a groan. She mumbled something.

“Louder for the back row, P.”

“I’m not tired of being me,” she repeated. “I’m tired of being Paula. I just…” She scooted back and brought her knees to her chest. “I just want them to understand that the Paula in their heads isn’t the Paula that’s in front of them.” She rested her chin on her knees. A picture of resignation. “And I’m not sure they ever will.”

“Give it time, P. Give it time.” Everdred patted her shoulder. “They’ll come around.”

Ness met Paula’s gaze. He quickly darted his eyes away.

Face swollen and red, she still managed a wan smirk. “What a day, huh?”

Ness wrung the edge of his shorts. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“It’s fine. I should be saying sorry though.” She sighed. “This is a lot. And you barely know me.” She covered her face. “This is embarrassing,” she whispered. It was one thing to be vulnerable around an adult. But it was different once you remembered there were people your age watching you.

“It’s okay.” Ness rolled the plastic tip of his shoelace between his thumb and forefinger. It was a bit overwhelming to make eye contact right now, so he could only imagine how Paula was feeling. “I cry a lot too. And I also hate it when people are looking at me. I wasn’t really sure what you were talking about in some parts. But, just by being with you today and hearing everything you said, I’d be pretty mad too.”

Paula lifted her head. Her voice was a bit slow - that half-asleep grogginess that came with the territory of a big cry. “Huh? Wait. What did I say?”

“Um. You mentioned something about healing? And a light? I think?”

Paula covered her eyes. “God, you don’t know. I forgot.”

“Maybe now’s not the best time, bud,” Everdred told Ness gently.

“No, it's fine.” Paula wiped her face. “Ness and I will be seeing each other a lot, so it’ll be better if I explain stuff now.”

And so Paula began to explain.

* * *

_She remembered the first time it happened._

_It was Sunday congregation. Paula knelt on the hard wooden pew between her parents as the chaplain’s plodding voice led them in prayer. Paula was seven. Her eyes were squeezed shut, palms almost stuck together from the summer heat sweat._

_People would ask what she was thinking of on that day, what great clarity or revelation, and Paula was never sure what to tell them. She was just being earnest, rhythmically reciting the prayers she’d repeated as early as she could speak. The truth in the words back then felt like they wove the reality of her whole world. How couldn’t she be earnest? Earnestness was the standard, anything else would have been irreverent._

_The chaplain abruptly stopped speaking. The congregation gasped._

_Paula peeled one eye open, curious to see what all the fuss was about, only to see that everyone was staring at her. Specifically, above her._

_She looked up. There, hanging a few feet over her head was a white, shimmering star. Its light formed a gleaming halo around her tiny head._

_Now, on paper, this was the worst case scenario. The Polestars were just a small, unassuming family that ran the local preschool. And Paula was their best kept secret. Not her existence, but the fact that she was a bit. Off._

_She was loved. Of course she was loved. Mr and Mrs Polestar fawned over their daughter. She was vibrant, healthy, precocious._

_But. (There’s always a but.) There was the subject of Paula’s psychic abilities._

_Her parents thought they were uncanny at best. Paula knew this. They didn’t hide their sighs whenever the metal cutlery in Paula’s hands would twist into impossible shapes, the groans when she would create ice and melt it into water to make mud to play with in the backyard, the panic in their eyes when a picked dandelion would combust in her hands while they were out in public._

_Paula was always acutely aware that she could be ‘too much.’_

_But after that Sunday, things changed. Word spread. They called it a miracle. The congregation went to their homes and told their neighbours, and those neighbours told their friends, and soon the story had mutated and expanded into such a level of grandiosity it wasn’t long when before people were knocking at the Polestar’s door with cameras and news vans asking for interviews._

_That wasn’t the important thing for Paula though. It was her parents’ reaction. The topic of her powers suddenly changed to the positive. Rather than being spoken about in hushed, equivocal tones like she was carrying something terminal, they regarded it as a gift. A talent that should be cultivated and trained. The star she’d summoned in prayer had bathed her in a new light. Like a baptism, she was a different person to her parents. Whatever was wrong with her wasn’t bad anymore. This part of her didn’t make her less; it made her more. That had been the real miracle._

_The town had its eyes on Paula. And all eyes on her meant all eyes on the family business. Being the marvel of dinner parties and the poster child of the preschool meant she had to look presentable. Which meant no slouching, no guffawing, no roughhousing. Hair brushed, socks pulled up, stomach sucked in, dressed starched, always and forever._

_She had to talk to grown-ups a lot more often now. Especially old, sick people. She was ushered into the halls of the Twoson hospital with her parents to pray over the bodies of sallow skinned, tube-stuffed people._

_A rumour had spread that Paula’s light could heal the sick. This was based on no empirical evidence, as the star she’d summoned that day had appeared for a few moments before vanishing, but the story spread like wildfire. People would specifically call her to their homes or the Twoson hospital to pray over them or their sick relatives. They asked her to pray, but she understood the implication. They wanted to see it. Her Light._

_Naturally, Paula decided to test this out herself. Through trial and error, picking scabs in her room and praying to see what happened, she learnt that the Light could in fact heal._

_Sometimes._

_Actually, barely ever._

_Sometimes it did nothing, just glimmered benignly and faded. Other times it would shine as bright as a sun, filling her eyes with tears. She’d seen it explode like a flash bomb, suddenly making her feel queasy and nauseous._

_What this experiment had given her, besides a headache from the cocktail of ailments she’d inflected on herself by playing scientist and test subject, was the knowledge that this was the only power in the spectrum of her psychic abilities that she had no control over. And that scared her._

_As she’d gotten older, she’d managed to have a better handle on her elemental PSI and her telekinesis. It was a skill she’d honed with the same determination and pleasure as executing a cartwheel or learning to whistle. It was a deliberate act, an expression of herself._

_The Light was different. The Light was an alien thing inside of her - out of tandem with her thoughts or intentions. Once she invoked it, it would misbehave however it pleased. She loathed it. She had never felt so far removed from something her body had created._

_She was too scared to tell her parents. She’d gotten all of this positive attention. She didn’t want to lose that. If she told them it would only confirm what they’d always believed, that her psychic abilities were an untamable nuisance that she couldn’t responsibly control._

_But with the rumour spreading far enough for people to request her presence in hospital beds, she knew she was in trouble._

_Being in those white rooms, weighed with expectation from the heavy eyes of the sick person's family and the tight grip on her shoulders from her mother and father - oh how she’d sweat through her hair. On the outside she’d calmly recite a prayer for the person, while inside she was repeating a distressed plea to the universe begging_ don’t mess up, don’t mess up, don’t mess up.

_The coin-toss chance of the Light causing some catastrophe made her so stressed she wanted to cause a scene. But she couldn’t. She was beginning to understand that she was becoming something of a public figure now. A pillar of the community. A ‘person of interest.’ She wasn’t some kid anymore. She was Paula the healer. The angel. The saint._

_She couldn’t take it. She told her parents one day that she couldn’t summon the Light anymore. She pretended not to notice their disappointment._

_She wished her parents liked her other tricks. They didn’t see the appeal. They just didn’t understand. Why did she have to fry gobs of cheese in her hands, or make glasses of water chill with a touch, or make the electrical outlets spark?_ Why can’t you be soft and loving and sweet, Paula?

_That’s the girl they wanted. The stained-glass vision of their daughter, beautiful and angelic. Not the cold distant, hot and wild, electric and dangerous girl they’d gotten._

_Whatever discontent her parents had over their daughter no longer being able to summon the Light was quickly forgotten as they were pleased to find that Paula was still regarded as an icon within the community._

_“What do you think happened?” people would ask. “With her Light?”_

_“She outgrew it,” he parents would say._

_Paula quietly hoped that the attention would fade once the news got out that she couldn’t make the Light anymore. But for whatever reason, people still wanted her. They still hungered for her presence. She’d become bigger than herself. She was the Pride of Twoson. A girl that paraded around the neighbourhood and had a smile and a sweet thing to say to anybody who passed her by._

_School was no better. She was infamous in her own way. She felt like a wind-up toy performing for these people. She was never sure if her peers actually wanted to hang out with her or just wanted to say they were friends with the miracle girl._

_Did her name even belong to her? She felt numb when people called her by it. Whenever they talked about Paula, the person they described didn’t sound like her at all. She hid further and further into herself, feeling more estranged from this persona bestowed upon her._

_It’s hard living in your own shadow. It’s cold and lonely._

_She asked her parents one day if she could be home-schooled. It suited Mom fine. It would be good to have another pair of hands around the preschool. Her parents thought it showed great maturity that she was ‘taking initiative in her own learning,’ when really she was just getting sick of her classmates and knew she’d snap if she didn’t get out of there._

_It wasn’t just school. It was everywhere. The chapel, the strip mall, her street. Wherever she went she was the subject of scrutiny and felt forced to perform the sweet-as-apple-pie shtick. The hundreds of eyes staring at her felt as inescapable and infinite as the stars in the sky. She needed to be inside. Unseen, unjudged, and safe._

_So she stayed home. She did her lessons. She helped look after the preschoolers. She receded inwards. Even though she was outside less and less, the feeling of being watched never quite left. And one day, she realized that in her haste to hide from the judgment of outside, she had failed to account for the two sets of eyes living with her who had been watching and measuring her every move since the very start._

* * *

“But, anyway, that was a bit before I met Everdred and— are you crying?”

Ness’s lip quivered as tears gushed down his face. _“I don’t know I just have a lot of feelings.”_

He dropped down next to Paula and wrapped his arms around her, overcome with sympathy.

“Nooo I’m all gross.” Paula squirmed slightly, but after a moment returned the hug.

Ness couldn’t help it. The sadness that was dripping out of Paula loomed over her like a drenched sponge leaking dark blue blobs of paint onto the floor.

“That sucks _so_ much,” he said. “I’m really sorry you went through all that. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have that pressure all the time. Especially with your parents acting like, like…”

“Dookey heads?” Paula offered.

“Yeah, real big ones.”

Ness held Paula tightly. Sitting there listening to her talk, his mind was brought back to that night at the Minch home, when the meteor had landed, after he’d walked Pokey and Picky back to their house. Their parents’ car was in the driveway. That meant trouble. They stepped inside and saw Mr and Mrs Minch waiting for them. After some off-handed acknowledgement towards Ness, he watched Mr Minch follow Pokey and Picky up to their room, the thunderous door slam sealing their fates.

The frightful yelling Ness heard filled his veins with ice. It vibrated the house with the force of a mallet swinging through a china cabinet - and he was only downstairs!

And that was just the thing. He was only downstairs.

The memory in combination with Paula's story made him realize two things.

First was the immutable fact that he could never know what it’s like. He could cry his eyes raw with sympathy, feel his muscles burn at the injustice of it all, but he would never, ever really know what it was like. He’d always heard stories from Pokey about how his mom and dad could get ‘real strict,’ but it was another thing entirely to witness it. Just earlier today he thought he’d run a full marathon in Paula’s shoes, and sure, it really felt like it. But then, how long had Paula been running?

As bad as it was to be in the periphery of those situations, he was still safe in the periphery. He would feel the reverberations of the earthquake, but never be at the epicenter of the destruction. He could never know what it was like, and it was foolish that for a single moment he thought he did.

And yet.

There was a second thing. A tiny part of him still craved justice. The security in knowing right could triumph wrong. It just had to. Sure, Pokey turned into a real dirtbag, but no one deserves to live in that kind of home life. Not him, not Picky either.

He just remembered how useless he’d felt. He was just a kid. A fat wuss of a kid. What could he do?

Well, he had PSI now, right? He’d defeated giant ants and moles and aliens and cops with a baseball bat and his love of his dad’s rock and roll records. Surely he wasn’t scared. Surely he could do something. Surely.

Ness and Paula separated. Paula looked… tired. But there was a softness in her eyes, a tiny comfort in knowing that the weight she’d always had to carry was now just a fraction lighter. “Thanks, Ness. I haven’t really been able to talk about this with anyone. Well, save for Everdred.”

“Damn straight, P.” Everdred mussed up Paula’s hair. “You’ll always have a place here - long as I have anything to do with it. If you wanna cry your eyes out, then cry your eyes out. If you wanna break my electronics, sure, go right ahead! The one thing I want you to remember is that as long as you’re in Burglin, you don’t have to be anyone but you, alright? People will always want to put you in categories and boxes so that they know whether they want to associate with you or not, and no one likes it really, but most people learn to grin and bear it. The problem with that is that you forget how to act like yourself, and when you do that, then you forget the things that make you happy. I mean, do I look like someone who fits in people’s boxes?” He waggled his bushy eyebrows and waved his sleeves. Ness and Paula gave small chuckles. “Do I? ‘Course not! I’ve never let what people think of me get in the way of what makes me happy.” He put a hand on Paula’s shoulder. “Whatever you do, Paula, don’t ever let what’s expected of you get in the way of who you are, okay?”

“Okay,” Paula returned with a tired grin.

“Now come here, both of you. Miserable little twerps, you’d think I was sitting in an orphanage.” Everdred pulled Ness and Paula into a hug, one arm wrapped around each kid. The three held each other in a tight embrace for the same length of time as a long deep breath, and then releasing into a calm exhale. Things weren’t fixed, but they were a bit more bearable.

They separated, sitting in a content sort of silence.

“So... what’s the plan now?” Ness said.

“Right,” Paula said, all business. “My visions told me that the next Sanctuary location is to the west, and that’s in Threed. Across the Twoson tunnel.”

“Cool, we can go there tomorrow.”

“Well there’s the thing, we can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Tunnel’s haunted,” Paula and Everdred said in unison.

Ness sighed. Of course it was.

“It happened around the same time my visions started acting up again,” Paula said. “No one’s been able to get out of Twoson that way for about a week, but we gotta find a way to get out.” She cupped her chin. “Maybe we can ask Apple Kid to make some sorta anti-ghost beam.”

Ness crossed his arms in thought. “What are ghosts scared of? Flashlights? Salt? Vacuum cleaners?”

“Vacuum cleaners?” Paula said.

“W-Well King doesn’t like vacuum cleaners.” Ness didn’t want to admit he blocked his ears under his pillow whenever his mom had to vacuum the house.

Ness and Paula jumped as Everdred put his arms around the two. “Hey! It’s been a big day. How about you focus on relaxing first, huh? Eat some pizza, play some videogames, be kids for pete’s sake! You can play U.N. Meeting once you’ve had some rest.”

“Fine, you’re right,” Paula said. “But straight after we have to find a way through that tunnel. The sooner we get out of here the better.”

“How long do you think you’ll be gone?” Everdred said

“Gosh. Days? Weeks? I guess we’ll need to pack food, but we can always buy stuff in the next town.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been doing,” said Ness.

Everdred hesitated before speaking. “Before you move on tomorrow, Paula, I think it would be good if you also considered…” he trailed off, looking at Paula expectedly.

Paula’s eyes narrowed, then widened in shock, then anger. “No. No, absolutely not. I am not apologising.”

Ness turned around with equal shock. “Mr Everdred, you don’t get it. You weren’t there, it was terrible.”

Everdred sighed, keeping his attention on Paula. “I know it’s hard. But you’re gonna be gone for a while, you said it yourself. And leaving without notice would be a very big statement. Is this a bridge you really want to burn?”

“Ed, you’re acting really old right now.” Paula tried to sound angry, but couldn’t hide the slight edge of fear in her voice.

Everdred rubbed his neck. “Listen, something you two gotta learn is that yes, it’s important to stick out for yourselves, and yes, it’s not right to put up with people who won’t listen. But there are some things you can’t take back, Paula, and sometimes, you’ve gotta act old. It’s not fun, it’s scary, but it’s part of growing up. I just don’t want you going down a road you can’t go back from.”

Paula jumped to her feet and stepped back, betrayal written all over her face. “You’re just like them! I hate when adults think kids always owe them stuff. Why should I be the one to apologise? They’re the ones who should be apologising, not me! And besides it was this whole - thing!”

Paula threw her arms down. Posture limp, she didn’t have enough energy to be angry, she’d used too much stamina crying earlier. Voice soft, too tired to yell, said, “We left and it was this whole thing and if I came back and apologised they’d think I wasn’t serious about all this and that everything’s forgiven but it’s not. If I apologise, they’ll think they did nothing wrong and keep treating me like _crap.”_

Everdred sighed. He was quiet for a bit, turning what Paula had told him over in his head. “Okay. You’re right.”

Paula didn’t soften her posture. This was feeling eerily familiar to a moment with her parents earlier today. Her stance said it all, she had no interest in being bitten twice.

Everdred took off his hat and rubbed his head. “I’m an old man, P. But I know if there’s one thing that made me block my ears harder, it was old folks acting like they knew better. I’m not going to force you to do anything, you’re old enough to make your own choices.” He was completely sincere. “I just wanted to make sure you knew what your options were.”

Paula stared at the floor as Everdred spoke. She slowly nodded.

“I’ll think about it,” she said.

“Great, that’s all I ask.”

“If you come with me.”

Everdred froze. “Er… I’m not so sure about that. I don’t think your folks would react well to, um.” He gestured to himself, the acknowledgement of his choice of fashion spoke for itself.

“Didn’t you just say that you shouldn’t let people put you into boxes?”

Everdred rubbed his eyes behind his glasses. “Let’s talk about this later.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Phew! Just when we needed it.” Everdred pulled out his stopwatch and made an impressed noise. “Six whole minutes to spare! Someone’s getting a big tip.” He jumped to his feet as Paula plopped herself back on the beanbag next to Ness.

Everdred reached the door handle and bowed grandly to Ness and Paula. “Monsieur, Mademoiselle, our meals await.”

He turned and opened the door to find not the pizza guy, but Mrs and Mr Polestar.

The earth seemed to stop on its axis. Rivers froze. Winds ceased. The universe ground to a halt in this terrible snapshot of a moment.

“It’s Everdred, right?” Mr Polestar said. “May we come in?”

“Bwuhhhhh…” Everdred’s glasses slipped down his nose, his eyes wide with shock as he looked up at the pair of fair headed, white-picket fence Polestars who stood one head above him. “Y-yes, yes.” It was unclear whether he was stuttering or answering both questions.

Paula’s parents stepped inside. They struggled to hide their wayward glances as their eyes traced every corner of the house. It wasn’t entirely judgement, but there was a flicker of curiosity in their looks. It was clear that they'd never been here before.

Their gazes settled on their daughter.

“Paula,” Mr Polestar said.

“Hey, Dad. Mom,” Paula said in a hushed voice.

Everdred was standing near the door, arms crossed, keeping his distance. He had the posture of a referee - ready to swoop in at any moment, but heavy with the knowledge that this wasn’t his fight.

The air was muggy with tension. It stuck to your neck and palms, slick and clammy.

I am such an idiot, Ness thought. How on Earth did he think he’d be able to help in any of this? You couldn’t just wack a person with a baseball bat just for acting crummy and call that justice, this wasn’t Looney Tunes. How quickly Ness had forgotten the second-hand tension. How the room felt so much smaller when these people were in it.

No, he had no idea what this was like. But Paula did. He’d never had to navigate anything like this before. But Paula did. Therefore, the best thing, the only thing he could do was to slowly put his hand on top of Paula’s, and press twice.

_I’m here._

He felt two small but precise bumps back.

_I know._

“Can we sit down?” Mr Polestar said. Mrs Polestar hadn’t spoken a word.

Paula shrugged. Her eyes were unfocused, already distancing herself from whatever was about to happen.

Mr Polestar briefly considered the opposite beanbag, but followed Mrs Polestar’s lead of kneeling in front of Paula.

Mr Polestar kept his gaze trained on Paula. Considered, careful. “Paula, we wanted to apologise.”

Ness blinked. This was good, right? He glanced at Paula, but her hackles were still raised, her shoulders hadn’t relaxed an inch.

“What for?” Paula responded. It was innocent enough. But despite all grammatical structure it was still a teacher’s question. Not one borne out of ignorance but of wanting to hear the right answer. She wanted to hear them say it. Despite her fatigue, the cogs were still turning in her mind in precise, economic movements.

Mr Polestar looked uncomfortable. “Well, we… We, um…” His eyes darted back to Mrs Polestar, like an actor trying to get prompts for his lines.

“If we’re being honest, Paula.” Mrs Polestar broke her silence. “We came here because you can’t storm off like that. It’s not very polite. People don’t appreciate it when you do that.”

“Louise…” Mr Polestar murmured.

Mrs Polestar caught herself. She looked at her husband. “I know, I know, I just wanted to make sure she understood.” She returned to Paula, thoughtful. “You always come here. We never said anything against it because we could see you always looked so happy coming back. But we… Well, we came here to talk, but then…”

“We could hear you from outside the house,” Mr Polestar said.

“Oh,” Paula said.“…How much did you hear?” There was curiosity, a tentative hope in her voice that maybe she’d already done all the hard work.

“Enough. I think we heard enough,” Mr Polestar said.

There was a silence. It was a silence of uncharted waters. No roadmaps, no rehearsal, no script outlining who spoke first, who said what. What was the happy ending here?

Mr Polestar spoke. “How long have you been feeling like this?” he said.

“I dunno… Since I was eight, nine, I guess,” Paula said.

Mrs Polestar had been looking down, her hands balled into fists on top of her legs. She shot her head up, speaking quickly, desperately. “Paula, you have to understand this is very new information for us. We were only acting in your best interest and you know we never meant to…”

Her voice fell as she saw her daughter’s face.

“…But that doesn’t matter. Does it?” Mrs Polestar said.

Mrs Polestar took a moment. The shift behind her features could be read like a book. The slight sagging, the slight surprise - the dawn of realisation. She collected herself and spoke.

“Paula, I’m so sorry.” She took Mr Polestar’s hand in hers. _“We_ hurt you. And we’re so, so sorry about that. It was wrong of us to assume we knew what you wanted, and we should never have made any decisions without your input.” She looked at Paula misty-eyed. “Is there anything we can do to make it up to you?”

“Let me use steel cutlery,” Paula said automatically.

Paula’s parents flinched slightly. Ness looked at Paula, confused. Even Everdred furrowed his brows a little bit.

That’s it? Ness thought. Didn’t she want anything else? Something bigger?

But then Ness turned and saw Mrs and Mr Polestar’s expressions. It was a look of very slight but very palpable panic.

Paula scoffed and crossed her arms. “I’m thirteen years old and you still don’t trust me. I’m not a kid.”

Mrs Polestar said, “It’s. It’s not that we don’t trust you—”

“You’ve never liked my powers. You’ve never ever liked them or accepted them until the Light. You never liked _me.”_

“That’s not true.”

“Well that’s what it felt like.” She hadn’t raised her voice. She knew the rules too well. If you raise your voice you lost, and Paula was acting like someone who’d played this game too many times. “Even if you didn’t mean it that’s what it felt like.”

“We were only going to wait another year...” Mr Polestar said.

“That’s not the point. I’ve told you guys over and over again that I can control my powers, I can. I was a toddler when I bent spoons, I didn’t know any better. How can you still be mad at me for something I did when I was a baby?”

“We were never mad at you,” Mrs Polestar said. “We were just concerned. You have to cut us some slack here, Paula. There’s no handbook on how to raise a child with your... traits. We only wanted to make sure you weren’t judged.”

Paula’s nostrils flared. She took a deep breath. Then breathed out. She spoke carefully. “That may have been your intention, but it didn’t feel like that. It never felt like you were looking out for me, what it felt like was that you were scared that others would find out I was different. It felt like you were ashamed of me.”

Mr and Mrs Polestar said nothing. They looked down in unison, a harrowed expression on their faces.

“Listen,” Paula’s voice softened. She raised her hand to her chest. “I’m different, okay? That’s not a bad thing. It’s not a dirty word, it’s the truth, and it’s me. But you guys hate different— _Don’t look at me like that, you do._ I see it every day.”

Mrs Polestar tucked her chin back to her chest.

Paula continued. “I’m sick of pretending for you. I’m sick of pretending like I’m this perfect kid just for you and the preschool.”

Silence again. Mr and Mrs Polestar looked down with heavy expressions, digesting the information they’d just been handed.

“You’re right,” Mr Polestar said. “We’re sorry. It tears me up to hear you say all this.”

Paula didn’t speak for a bit. Her eyes looked hurt, like she’d been expecting a bit more. “I don’t want you to just be sorry. I want you to understand why what you did was wrong. I want you to trust me. Trust me to make my own decisions, trust me with my powers, just, listen to me. If you’re really sorry, then that’s what I need to change.”

Mr and Mrs Polestar didn’t say anything. It was so quiet that Ness’s own breathing sounded like thunder in his ears.

“This… is very new information to us, Paula,” Mrs Polestar said. She rubbed the heel of her hand against the corner of her eye. “Thank you. For telling us. We want… I want to change for the better, even if it’s hard, and even if I’m still having some trouble understanding. What I know is that I hate the thought of you leaving here feeling this way about us.”

“You’re growing up so fast, Paula,” Mr Polestar said. “But just 'cause we’re surrounded by preschoolers all day doesn’t mean we have any right to treat you like one too.” He gave a small laugh.

“Can you forgive us?” Mrs Polestar said.

They stood in an inversion of the Polestar house. There, the apologies had been a transaction, a courtesy to smooth over the rough edges of a disagreement. But right now, the Polestars looked ragged. Torn open, vulnerable, even a bit scared. Their absolution was in her hands. They looked at her hungrily.

Paula looked down, arms folded over her chest, mulling something over.

“I’ll need to think about it,” she said softly. “I’m tired, and I want some time alone.”

“You’re leaving tomorrow. Will we be able to see you before you go?” said Mrs Polestar, the unspoken _but!_ at the start of her words hanging in the air.

“I want to be left alone,” she repeated.

Mr and Mrs Polestar deflated slightly. They each nodded at their own tempo.

“I understand,” Mrs Polestar said.

“The time will be good.” Mr Polestar looked at Mrs Polestar and patted the back of her hand. “To reflect.”

Mrs Polestar nodded in response.

Slowly, the two stood up, nodded to Everdred, and left the house.

Everdred closed the door, and let out a big breath as he leaned against the handle. Paula fell backwards on the bean bag so her head was touching the floor. Ness jumped to his feet and panted hard as he bent over and leaned on his knees.

“That sure was... something,” Everdred said. “You okay, P? How do you feel?”

Paula groaned as she lay with the crook of her elbow over her eyes.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Everdred walked over and squatted next to Paula. “That took a lotta stones. I thought you were gonna hug it out for a second there.”

“I couldn’t,” she croaked. “I—”

“Paula, do you want this?” Ness held out his unopened root beer.

Paula removed her arm and looked at the can. “Thanks.” Paula sat up and drank. “Thank you, Ness.”

“You’re good.”

Paula clutched the can in her hands. “I just, I couldn’t let them have it. And I don’t mean that in like, a supervillain way or whatever. I just needed them to understand I’m serious. I can’t go back there with things the way they were, you know?”

Everdred nodded sagely. “You had to tell ‘em you meant business. Good instinct.” He patted her back.

There was a knock at the door.

Everdred exchanged a look between Paula and Ness, and slowly went up to the door.

It was a pimply teen wearing the Mach Pizza uniform. “Pizza for Everdred?” she panted. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Eh, better late than never.” Everdred took the pizzas and threw a thick wad of bills at the teenager.

The day wound down as afternoon turned to evening, Paula barely spoke throughout, she’d said too many words in the span of a day and needed to recharge. Ness and Paula devoured their pizzas, she half-heartedly played a racing simulator on the game console with Ness. All the while Everdred would make the odd joke or observation, but he took the quiet as an opportunity to do some paperwork behind his desk that seemed both too boring and adult for Ness to bother asking about. It was that comfy quiet that came with the relief of knowing that whatever happened, you knew ‘well, at least I never have to do today again.’

The chorus of chirping crickets hailed the start of nighttime. Paula balked at Everdred’s offer to pick up her PJ’s at her house. She said she’d be fine sleeping in her clothes. Ness, who had a pair of his striped jammies folded in a night bag in his backpack, kept his t-shirt and shorts on in solidarity.

Everdred demonstrated how the sofa could be unfolded into a bed they could sleep in. He banged the TV a few times and got it working, though the picture would get all fuzzy every few minutes. “I sleep in my chair all the time, don’t worry. Just watch TV until you fall asleep,” he said. Indeed, as soon as they flicked on the remote, Everdred was snoring in his chair as if hit with a magic spell.

With Everdred sleeping in the corner, Ness lay on his back underneath the covers, while Paula was at the foot of the bed laying on her stomach with a pillow under her chin. They watched the nature channel. It was that time of night where the TV waves or whatever made your eyeballs all scratchy and tired but you didn’t want to go to sleep quite yet. The sound and images from the TV washed over Ness like water off a duck’s back.

“I’m sorry,” Paula said. “For snapping at you after leaving the preschool and just, all of this. You shouldn’t need to deal with my problems like that.”

“It’s okay.” Ness shrugged. “You saved my butt plenty of times today in Peaceful Rest. It’s only fair.”

“I guess,” Paula mumbled, staring down the barrel of the TV screen. She paused, then said, “Thanks too. For sitting next to me while I was talking to my parents.”

Ness sunk a bit in his sheets. “Are you sure? I felt pretty useless back there.”

“Well, I don’t think I could've said all that to Mom and Dad if you hadn’t been there, even with Everdred. Out of everyone, you’re the only person who hasn’t tried to give me advice or try to fix things like you know better than me. So”—Paula touched her foot on Ness’s leg without looking—“thanks.”

“Do you think you’ll forgive them?” Ness asked. “After we come back from fighting Gyigas?”

“I don’t know,” Paula said. “I’m more scared that they’ll be mad at me. I’ve never told them all that before.”

Ness was quiet.

“You don’t have to say anything,” she said. “It’s nice to have someone who listens.”

Ness couldn’t remember who turned off the TV, only that it was. He settled into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Paula was jolted awake by something thrown at her.

“Huh, so I guess that confirms you can’t sleep-float things,” Everdred said.

 _“Edddd,”_ Paula groaned and rubbed her eyes.

Ness and Everdred were awake. They were holding bags of food and cans of drink she recognized from the different stands at Burglin.

“Sorry, we didn’t want to wake you,” Ness said in that typical timid way where it looked like he felt bad just for existing. “We got some food and a bag for you to carry stuff in.”

Paula saw the smart little satchel that had been thrown at her. It felt sturdy, practical. Something she’d never get from her parents.

She saw the events of yesterday flash before her eyes. Yesterday hadn’t been a dream, then, like a small part of her had hoped.

At least she hadn’t had a vision. That would have been the cherry on top of an already no-good day.

Everdred told the kids that he would be heading off as well in a day or two. He was going to chase a lead on one Mani-Mani statue he’d heard so much about. “Ness was telling me about it while you were asleep, and I thought it sounded awfully familiar to some urban legends you hear when you’re wet behind the ears - typical El Dorado-type nonsense. But if that nonsense is real… Well, thought I’d go on a little adventure of my own rather than sit on my thumbs waiting for you two to get back. Who knows! We might meet up again while we’re there.”

He then went to his huge shelf of documents and papers, searched in three different sections and came back with a fat wad of bills. Ten-thousand dollars in twenty-dollar bills. As Ness and Paula stared stunned at the amount of money in their possession, Everdred made a cryptic suggestion about them getting some inspiration for their ghost tunnel problem by going to the Chaos Theatre and watching the act performing there.

They exchanged goodbyes, but not before Paula let herself be grabbed into a huge hug from Everdred. She was gonna miss this. Everdred always gave the best hugs, being snuggled in his weird shirts that smelled faintly of tobacco.

“Remember, Paula. Just be you, never be ashamed of being you,” he told her. “AND NESS! QUIT DRAGGING YOUR FEET SO MUCH! CHIN UP, TWERP, YOU LOOK LIKE YOU’RE WALKING TO A FUNERAL!”

She and Ness went to the Chaos Theatre and watched the act that had been playing for nearly a month - the Runaway Five. The whole way there Ness rambled about how cool the Runaway Five were, and how his dad had gifted him a record of theirs that he listened to a lot at home. It was interesting to see him so talkative, it was one of the few times he seemed so open.

They watched the performance and were allowed to meet with the band backstage, where the two soon learned that the reason for the band’s mandatory tenure at the venue was because they were in debt to the owner by ten-thousand dollars. Paula and Ness looked at each other with a knowing glance knowing exactly what to do.

Soon, they were hopping onto the Runaway Five’s tour bus. The band was passing by Threed anyway and insisted on giving Paula and Ness a lift. They were unshakeable in their belief that the power of music would get them through the tunnel, haunted or not.

The bus lurched forward, the musicians holding an impromptu jam session in the middle of the bus that made the walls and floor vibrate with music.

Ness was over the moon. He sat spellbound watching the performers so up close. Paula stayed in her spot sitting next to the window, leaning her elbow against the edge of the wall as she watched the passing scenery of Twoson. There was Burglin, there was the chapel, and there was…

The preschool. And her mother, standing at the front of the building, supervising the preschoolers during their outdoor time.

The two met eyes and saw each other.

Paula was surprised at the gnawing in her chest. A longing, a regret, a hope, all mixed up in a bizarre little feeling that wished that things could’ve been different, and an annoying prophetic shimmer that told her this was the only way things could have been.

Or maybe it was a mutual recognition. An understanding of the change this marked for both of them, mother and daughter, hopefully for the better.

Mom lifted her hand in a meek sort of wave.

Paula raised her hand slightly. Face still, she gave a tiny wave back.

The bus turned a corner. Through the forest. Through the tunnel. To Threed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE FINALLY DID IT LADS. SORRY FOR THE WAIT AND THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME!
> 
> This fic is super special to me and it's been a gauntlet working through it and I'm so so proud of how it came out! May I also say it's truly an honour to be uh (checks tag) apparently the first ever author to have Everdred as a tagged character in a Mother fic on ao3 (wow). Hopefully this did him justice!
> 
> Now to thank the beta readers!
> 
> HUMONGOUS PROPS TO ONE @Tarnhag on ao3. Her insights could not have made this fic what it is, and I am so grateful to have someone who can honestly tell me when something is not working and use their time to tell me how to fix it. Could not have done this without her. 
> 
> Also thank you to Tuff! Your play-by-plays of the writing are always so encouraging and make me feel 'hey maybe I am sort of okay at this writing thing' and it was heartening to see your enjoyment even though you've never played Earthbound! (Please play it. It's good.)
> 
> And thank YOU, dear reader. For the people who left comments, you guys were wind under my sails to finish this thing cause I really wanted to see this through for you guys. Comments go a long way folks! Never forget it!
> 
> EDIT: I've made a little post showcasing some of the music I listened to that inspired/helped me write this fic. Feel free to check it out if you're curious! https://schnozzbun-art.tumblr.com/post/623710920960622592/pride-of-twoson-playlist


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